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Op-Ed: A Letter to Black Pastors

(G3) In his letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed black pastors attempting to understand the civil rights movement. King understood that his rhetorical arguments would impact a much larger audience and help those foreign to the movement understand its goals. 

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, as black pastors grappled with its implications, it was clear that there was a growing need for clarity on the issue of abortion. However, in the current cultural climate, few would dare to write such a letter. 

Many white pastors fear being criticized or attacked, and many black pastors find it difficult to openly criticize a fellow brother, especially one who shares his complexion. Insofar as the “black church” is concerned, evangelicals fear holding it accountable for missing the mark. 

Conversely, the senior pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, Charlie Dates, has written many critiques aimed squarely at the “White Church.” Furthermore, media outlets rush to publish many of his hot takes on everything from gun control to why America needs the black church. 

In his article for the Washington Post, Dates writes, “America needs the Black church for its own survival because the Black church remains the prophetic and priestly conscience of the land.”

If Dates is correct, we must ask a question. As America’s priestly conscience, what is the black church saying in light of the Supreme Court decision regarding the reversal of Roe? 

Like many black pastors, Dates is woefully silent on abortion these days. However, during the…

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Editor’s Note. This article was written by Virgil Walker and published at G3. Read the whole thing. It is great.

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Only 3% of Christian Missionaries Focus on the ‘Unreached’ Across the Globe: Report

(Christian Headlines) A new report found that just three percent of Christian missionaries worldwide focus on “unreached” people, meaning people who have never heard of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or been to church.

According to The Traveling Team data cited by global evangelism ministry East-West, there are about 400,000 Christian missionaries worldwide. Among them, only 3.3 percent are focused on “unreached people groups,” otherwise identified as UPG.

“When we say unreached, we’re not just talking about lostness; we’re talking about access. Unreached means that they don’t even have access to hear the Gospel. There’s no church, no Christian, no Bible available … God has not just commanded us to make the Gospel known among as many people as possible. He has commanded us to make the Gospel known among all the peoples,” said pastor David Platt of McClean Bible Church in Washington D.C., according to a blog posted to East-West’s website.

The Joshua Project, an organization that tracks evangelism efforts across the globe, states that people groups are categorized as unreached when less than 2 percent of those identify as evangelical Christian and less than 5 percent adhere to any form of Christianity

Additionally, UPG resources noted…to continue reading, click here


Editor’s Note. This article was written by Milton Quintanilla and published at Christian Headlines

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Ghost Megachurches: Salem Baptist Church Hires Former SBC Pastor To Stem The Bleeding

(Evangelical Dark Web) In this edition of our series on Ghost Megachurches, we cover a predominantly black church in Chicago that once boasted 10000 members now in an evident decline. In the same month that Rick Warren announced his successor Andy Wood, James Meeks announced Charlie Dates would replace him at Salem Baptist Church in Chicago.

Branch Covidianism has not been easy on Salem Baptist Church. Credited by Christian Post as the reason for decline, the church seems to have failed to adapt well for their size in the highly competitive online environment. Black churchgoers have routinely been less willing to return to in-person worship and this would Salem Baptist Church looks like another casualty in the trend.

A survey of their most recent June 26th service shows a crowd in the mere hundreds with sections of the auditorium unused.

On YouTube, Salem Baptist Church has near 10,000 subscribers and on a good day a sermon has over 5000 views. For comparison, The Potters House of Sarah Jakes Roberts had over 600000 subs and easily amassed 20000 views a sermon. This Ghost Megachurch shut down its Denver location. What stands out the most about Salem Baptist Church’s video sermons is the poor production value, as the sermons are not even streamed in HD.

Enter Charlie Dates

James Meeks and his wife are set to retire prior to the 38th anniversary of the church they founded. Charlie Dates, someone who has some… to continue reading, click here


Editor’s Note. This article was written by Ray Fava and published at Evangelical Dark Web. Title changed by Protestia. For a video commentary by Fava, click here:

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A Comprehensive Guide to States That Banned Abortion+ Loopholes and Exceptions

LifeSiteNews) – The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, and states across the U.S. are now moving rapidly to enforce the strictest pro-life laws in generations, sending Democrats and the abortion industry scrambling to keep abortion legal on-demand wherever they can.

As of Wednesday evening, laws in at least seven states have taken effect criminalizing abortion throughout pregnancy with virtually no exemptions. Several other states have sharply restricted the murder of unborn children within their borders, and 10 or more are set to enforce bans in the coming days and weeks following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Friday.

UPDATES – Thursday, June 30:

  • Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has announced that he will enforce Arizona’s total abortion ban.
  • A Kentucky judge has temporarily paused the state’s trigger law.
  • campaign in Michigan to enshrine abortion up to the moment of birth in the Michigan Constitution says it has enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot in November.
  • Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi has totally halted abortions as of Tuesday.

Check the guide below for comprehensive information about where each state currently stands on abortion in post-Roe America.

ALABAMA – Ban throughout pregnancy

As of Friday, abortion is illegal at all stages of pregnancy in Alabama with few exceptions. A federal court lifted an injunction on the state’s near-total abortion ban enacted in 2019, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced within hours of the Dobbs ruling.

Penalties: The 2019 law, known as the Human Life Protection Act, makes performing an abortion a Class A felony that can result in life imprisonment.

Exceptions: The law allows exceptions when “necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother” or for fatal fetal anomalies. Alabama has another 1951 pre-Roe ban on the books that outlaws abortion except to preserve a mother’s life or health.

Impact: The last three abortion facilities in Alabama halted all procedures Friday.

ARIZONA – Ban throughout pregnancy

Arizona has an enjoined pre-Roe law from 1901 that bans abortion throughout pregnancy with penalties of up to five years in prison for anyone who aborts a woman’s baby or helps her to do so. The only exception is when an abortion would be “necessary to save [the mother’s] life.”

In effect: Gov. Doug Ducey has said that he will move to implement a 15-week ban that he signed in March and that takes effect in September. But Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Wednesday that the pre-Roe law is enforceable, and he said it doesn’t conflict with the more recent ban.

Brnovich added that he’ll seek the removal of the injunction placed on the law in 1973, the Associated Press reported.

Eugenic abortion ban: The Republican attorney general has indicated that another pro-life law enacted last year that prohibits abortions due to race, sex, or non-lethal genetic abnormality may also take effect with Roe out of the way. That law, SB 1457, makes performing a eugenic and race- or sex-selective abortion a Class 3 felony except in a “medical emergency” necessitating an immediate abortion to avoid the mother’s death or serious, permanent injury, based on a physician’s “good faith clinical judgment.”

Fetal personhood: It also contains a provision declaring unborn babies legal persons “at every stage of development” and granting them “all rights, privileges and immunities available to other persons, citizens and residents of this state, subject only the Constitution of the United States” and constitutional decisions of the Supreme Court.

A federal judge blocked part of SB 1457 last year but declined halt the fetal personhood provision, according to the Associated Press.

Impact: Planned Parenthood of Arizona and other abortion businesses in the state have stopped abortions.

ARKANSAS – Ban throughout pregnancy

Abortion is illegal throughout pregnancy in Arkansas.

A 2019 trigger law came into effect after Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified on Friday that the Supreme Court had struck down Roe, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported. “None of us thought today would come in our lifetimes,” Rutledge said Friday.

Penalties: Anyone other than the mother who performs or attempts to perform an abortion will now face felony charges, fines of up to $100,000, and up to 10 years in prison.

Exceptions: The trigger law allows exceptions only when “necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury.”

Impact: In response to the trigger law, Planned Parenthood Great Plains has completely halted abortions in the…

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Editor’s Note. This article was written by Raymond Wolfe and published at Life Site News

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The Gospel Coalition Urges Not to Celebrate, But to Empathize With Pro-Abortion Mothers Amid SCOTUS Decision

(The Dissenter) If you want to find the kind of luke-warm Christianity God detests—like the church in Sardis that God said he would vomit from his presence—look no further than The Gospel Coalition. Amid the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade which ended 50 years of the guaranteed right to murder innocent children in the womb, Evangelical leaders are urging Christians to temper their celebration.

For the last several years, Big Eva (the “Big Evangelical” industrial complex) leaders have spent the better part of their time trying to convince us that voting Democrat is a morally acceptable choice given the “fact” that conservatives “couldn’t do anything about abortion anyways.” Thankfully, that argument has been exposed for the fraudulent lie that it was and those trying to convince us of its truth now have nothing left to convince us that Republicans and Democrats are just the same.

So now they have one option left—try to convince us that overturning Roe v. Wade is not worth celebrating and that in the midst of this “terrible tragedy” for some women, we should empathize with them and “understand their pain.”

In The Gospel Coalition’s latest attempt at derailing your biblical worldview, in an article titled After Roe, Choose Compassion over Culture War, the author starts out by recalling when, as a teenager, he and his girlfriend found out that she was pregnant, and recalling the fear and uncertainty they faced at the time. The author then recalled being offered a “way out” by the doctor, and from there, he jumps into a diatribe against Christians who celebrate life.

Playing on the emotions of the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7), the author, James Forsyth, attempts to convince us that it is normal for scared women, teenagers, and those in uncomfortable and unprepared situations to see abortion as a viable option to an unexpected pregnancy. And this is where Forsyth calls on Christians not to celebrate the fact that

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Editor’s note. This article was written by Jeff Maples and published at The Dissenter.

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40 Abortion Businesses Stopped, More to Come: A Review by State

(Operation Rescue) Washington D.C. – After nearly 50 long years, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that falsely established a federal constitutional right to kill children in the womb. In the afterglow of Friday’s celebration, many are asking how the abortion industry and state legislatures are responding.

According to our own research, 40 abortion facilities have halted abortions or are no longer scheduling appointments at all since Friday. And more are scheduled to follow suit by July 24, when statutory 30-day enactment delays of abortion restrictions or bans have been fulfilled.

Expect to see a rapidly changing environment across the landscape of the U.S. in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. Some clues can be garnered from a list composed by The Susan B. Anthony List revealing states that were either poised to protect children in the womb immediately upon Roe’s overturn or are expected to do so in the coming weeks.

Twelve states protecting the lives of in utero babies immediately:  

  • Alabama – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Arkansas – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Kentucky – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Louisiana – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Missouri – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Ohio – unborn children protected as soon as their heartbeat can be detected.
  • Oklahoma – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • South Dakota – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • Texas – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy. Pre-Roe law and Heartbeat Act are in effect; trigger law takes effect 30 days after Roe.
  • Utah – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
  • West Virginia – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy; pre-Roe law enforceable.
  • Wisconsin – unborn children protected throughout pregnancy; pre-Roe law enforceable.

At least eight states expected to enact pro-life protections soon:                                                                


Editro’s Note This article was written by Anne Reed and posted at Operation Rescue.

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Bart Barber’s Resolutions Committee Declines to Condemn Plagiarism

SBC Elites faced several resolutions condemning the sin of plagiarism; however, Bart Barber’s Resolutions Committee rejected each.

(Capstone Report) SBC Elites faced several resolutions submitted by members of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) that condemned plagiarism. The resolutions were prompted by the Sermongate scandal where current SBC President Ed Litton was revealed to have preached word-for-word sermons from J.D. Greear and Tim Keller. The Tim Keller sermon on marriage that Litton stole was preached by Litton in 2012 and came from a 1991 sermon by Keller. The sermons pilfered from J.D. Greear included personal stories that were changed to become Litton’s stories.

The scandal undermined the leftist Ed Litton’s presidency. It stopped Ed Litton’s appearances on MSNBC—where he was the new darling of the progressive media elites.

The Tuesday SBC Bulletin reports that the Bart Barber Resolutions Committee received resolutions on the Sacredness of the Pulpit and on plagiarism—it rejected each on the excuse that there is no SBC consensus on plagiarism. The Bart Barber committee said,

“While the Committee affirms the thesis that preaching is a sacred trust from God for which preachers are accountable to Him, we do not believe that the Convention has yet reached any informed consensus on the many specific burdens placed upon pastors within the text of this proposed resolution.”

In other words, Bart Barber rejects that stealing other people’s sermons and passing them off as your own is a sin!

That should not shock anyone since Bart Barber previously claimed that the Apostles were plagiarists in one of the most idiotic defenses of Ed Litton’s plagiarism.

So, the SBC does not have consensus nor the time to deal with plagiarism. Rather, there are other more pressing matters for the SBC. Like…

The Resolutions brought forward by Bart Barber include Resolution 4: “ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, FORCED CONVERSION, AND THE FEDERAL INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL INITIATIVE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT.”

Timely! We know forced… To continue reading, click here.


Editor’s Note. This article was written and published at the Capstone Report

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Pastor John Gray of Relentless Church Caught Cheating On His Wife… Again?

(NewSonyX) YouTuber Tasha K claimed that Pastor John Gray allegedly cheated on his wife again. She spilled the tea on her podcast last week. 

In the latest episode of Unwine with Tasha K, the blogger discussed cheating allegations regarding Gray, who is a pastor at Relentless Church in South Carolina. Tasha, born Latasha Kebe, called out Gray for engaging in a virtual relationship with a woman who claims to be his mistress. (And claims she has video of Gray naked, masturbing that he sent the mistres)

“‘He’s sending me cash apps, he said he’s going to move me to Atlanta. He’s gonna buy me a house. He’s gonna buy me a car,’” Tasha claimed the alleged mistress told her.

The 40-year-old revealed that the alleged mistress, a masseuse, had several virtual sessions with Gray before realizing he was a well-known pastor. Tasha also said the woman had phone sex with the religious leader, saying he promised to buy her material items while engaging in the act. However, the woman said he would forget everything he told her after relieving himself. 

Tasha told the woman she should have asked for the material items before the pastor reached his sexual peak.

“That’s why you have to stop before he c*ms and say, ‘go buy the car,’” the blogger said, adding, “the next time you want to c*m, go buy the car.” 

 YouTube personality Larry Reid provided a…

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This story was written by Jahaura Michelle an dposted at NewSonyX

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It’s Official. Mennonite Church USA Officially Caves on Marriage

(Juicy Ecumenism) Membership Guidelines in place for 20 years that prohibited Mennonite Church USA pastors from officiating same-sex marriages have been repealed.

The May 29 move by the historically Anabaptist denomination’s Delegate Assembly meeting in Kansas City, Missouri followed an earlier unanimous vote by the 10-member Executive Board on April 16 to send a proposed resolution to “retire” the guidelines. Anabaptist World has coverage of the assembly here.

“Pastors holding credentials in a conference of Mennonite Church USA may not perform a same-sex covenant ceremony. Such action would be grounds for review of their credentials by their area conference’s ministerial credentialing body,” the now-retired Membership Guidelines read.

Delegates voted 404-84, or 82.8 percent in favor, to retire the Membership Guidelines, according to Anabaptist World. A subsequent vote of 267-212, or 55.7 percent in favor, approved a “Repentance and Transformation” resolution, written by the Inclusive Mennonite Pastors group. That resolution confessed harm to and affirmed the spiritual gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people and commits to inclusive actions to “embody a theology that honors LGBTQIA people and relationships with all future MC USA theological statements”.

The Mennonite Church USA is significantly smaller than mainline Protestant churches, but remains the largest Mennonite denomination in the United States and…to continue reading click here.


Editor’s Note. This article was written by Jeffrey Walton and published at Juicy Ecumenism

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Bethel Church-Related Ministries Reported for Possible PPP Loan Fraud

(TrinityFi) After reviewing recently published Form 990s, Trinity Foundation has reported two of three non-profit organizations affiliated with Bill Johnson’s California megachurch Bethel Redding for possible Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud.

Trinity Foundation reported Bethel Media and Bethel School of Technology, but not Bethel Music, to the Small Business Administration.  Let’s take a look at their loans and Form 990s.

The loan program was authorized by Congress to help small businesses and non-profit organizations retain employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, all three organizations report zero employees on page one of their latest Form 990s, but it is possible they use independent contractors.

(Photo: Bethel Media Form 990, page 1, line 5 reports zero employees.)

In 2020, Bethel Media received a PPP loan for retaining 77 jobs and in 2021 received a second loan for retaining 50 jobs. According to ProPublica’s Tracking PPP database, Bethel Media received…

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Editor’s Note, This article was written by Barry Bowen and published at TrinityFi.